New Beginnings
by QuinKat206
Summary: Chloe is a new kid at the DWMA and has no partner weapon. She came from a different Academy but while there she had a partner. He was killed by a witch and now she must find a new partner. Poor Soul has lost Maka as well, so he has no partner either.
1. Chapter 1

I stood silently outside the door, waiting for the teacher to call me inside. The hallway stretched out on either side of where I was standing. The same thought I had had every night since my parents told me they were sending me here crossed my mind. _I hope it doesn't happen here as well. If rumors were spread here then me coming here would have been a complete waste._

"Today we have a new student who has transferred here from a different DWMA (Death Weapon Meister Academy). You can come in now!" I opened the door and swiftly walked into the room. I made sure not to meet the eyes of any person in the room. I walked up to stand next to Dr. Stein and bowed slightly. "My name is Chloe Nightingale and I hope you will all take good care of me." I stood up straight and glanced at Dr. Stein. He was sitting in a chair with wheels looking at me oddly. "You can take the seat next to Soul." I looked up at the students in the classroom to see a boy with red eyes and white hair standing up.

He pointed to the empty space next to him and sat back down. I made my way to my seat, ignoring the chatter of the others around me. I sat down and Dr. Stein started the lesson for today. I only had to listen to him for a few moments before I confirmed that I had already learned this. I felt Soul's eyes on me so I glanced over at him as I pulled out one of the books I had in my bag. His expression looked almost pained.

I opened my book and started reading. I hadn't done anything to him so I didn't know what I was supposed to do to make him not look at me like that. I was just starting the second paragraph before I heard him get up and bound down the desks, slamming the door on the way out. That's just perfect. I already had someone here who hated me and I only knew his name. The whole room was completely silent.

I stood and closed my book. "I guess it has already started here; if you'll please excuse me." I made my way down the aisles using the stairs and quietly closed the door on my way out. I didn't know which way Soul had gone so I just chose to go left. I turned a corner and stopped short. Soul stood in front of one of the large windows. As soon as he heard me he turned to look at me. I scrambled back and tripped over my own feet. His expression got confused and he seemed to be about to say something but I bolted back the way I had come before he could say anything.

I passed Dr. Stein and he tried to grab my arm to stop me but I shocked him with my soul force and he let me go. I made my way out of the academy and into Death City. I ran until I was standing in front of the apartment building I was staying at.

My breath came quickly and I put my hands on top of my head. There was no way it was possible. It had been a trick of the light. There was no other explanation for Soul looked so much like _him_. I shook my head and made my way up to my apartment. It was just mine. No one else was with me. It was so lonely with just me here. Before I had had my partner living with me at the other academy, now the only thing I had to remind me of him was my chain necklace.

We had a matching set and I never took it off. It was the only thing besides my memories I had to remind me of the time we had been together. Why had we been so arrogant in that last battle? If I hadn't been so weak and released him he wouldn't have had to sacrifice himself to give me a chance to escape. I punched the wall to my right with my head bowed. The pain helped me sort out my thoughts and set all thoughts of my old partner aside. He had always said that if he died protecting me not to let his life go to waste. I had to find a new partner and get back on track.

I rubbed my knuckles and took a deep breath. Not everyone at the academy has a partner…right? If they did then I wouldn't be of any use in the academy. I shook my head and made my way to the bathroom. I took a quick shower before changing into my pajamas and curled up in my bed. It was still early but I didn't care. I didn't want to go out or back to school, I hadn't even been there for the morning classes. Dr. Stein didn't seem to really want to keep in the academy or he would have so I guess I was fine being home now.

It took a while but eventually I managed to fall asleep. I didn't wake up until morning and I actually felt like I was rested. I hadn't felt like that in weeks. I got my things around and slung my bag over my shoulder before heading outside. Even this early in the morning there were people out and about in the streets. I picked my way through the streets and to the academy. On the way inside I passed a small group of people. There two girls who looked like they could be sister, another girl with long, black hair in a ponytail, a guy with black hair and three white stripes on the right side of his hair, a kid with blue hair that was very loud and one other person. Soul was with them as well.

I walked by them with my head down. None of them stopped me.

I made my way to my first period classroom. A man who looked like a zombie was already in the room with a few other kids. When he saw me he waved me over. "It's good to see a new face around here! I hope you've settled in well." I nodded. "Yes I have; thank you." A loud crash came from behind me. I spun around to see the blue haired kid from before. His face was buried in the desk. Soul and the others entered the room.

"Ah perfect! Soul, you and Chloe are needed to in the Death room. Lord Death wants to talk to you two so you are excused from class today." I looked at him in disbelief. Why was I wanted in the Death room with _Soul_?


	2. Chapter 2

Soul was quiet as we walked through the academy towards the Death room. Since I had only been there once I didn't really know the way, so I had no choice but to rely on Soul for the way. I could feel his tension but I still had no clue why _he _was the one who was uncomfortable. After all, he was the one who looked like my old partner in such a creepy way. They had the same hair style and the same stance. They both seemed to be naturally laid back. I almost couldn't stand just walking by him.

He opened the door to the Death room and I followed him inside. I couldn't think of one reason why we were both called here to see Lord Death.

We finally walked up to the platform where Lord Death stood and waited for him to say something. "What's up, what's up?" Soul spoke. "You wanted us for something?" Lord Death tilted his body to the side. "Yes, yes of course I did. Soul you are a scythe and Chloe you are a scythe meister. So, Stein came up with an excellent idea for you two to become partners! I thought that this would be an excellent idea since you're both in the same situation."

The same situation? What did he mean by that? "Whoa, whoa, hold up a second. How are we in the same situation?" Soul spoke my thoughts. "Both of your partners died in combat. This would be an excellent reason also for you two to be partners. You can help each other out the most with dealing with the loss for a good friend. Don't you agree?" I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Soul had also lost his partner? Maybe he _was_ in the same situation I was…

"So what you're saying is that you want us to be partners to help each other get over our old partners?" I kept my voice perfectly steady. Lord Death turned to look at us in the mirror. "That's pretty much it. Do you think you can do that? Both of you resemble the other's partner in more than one way, so it's alright if you don't want to become weapon and meister." So he did know about the resemblance between Soul and Kain. I guess I resembled Soul's old partner as well. That's why looked at me with such a pained expression.

"I'm up for it." I looked over at Soul. He smiled slightly at me. "How about you? Think we can make it work?" I hesitated a moment. "Yeah, I'll give it a go." Lord Death turned back to us again. "Good! Good! Now that we have that settled I'll tell what I want you to do! Stein also asked that if you accepted he wanted to see to your training to make sure your souls are compatible. I can see that your souls look very compatible but that doesn't always mean they are."

"When exactly do you want this training to happen?" Soul seemed to relax slightly now but I couldn't pull that off. Kain had always told me I was as stiff as a book when he wasn't around. He had been my friend since before we got into the academy so I had trusted him with every fiber of my being. But I didn't Soul at all so I couldn't just trust him; even if he was now my new partner. "After classes of course! We don't want you falling behind in your studies." I rolled my eyes.

"And yet you call us here while classes are going on right now?" He tilted his body again. "Hmm, seems you have a point there. Well, I haven't anything left to say so you best be off." We both turned and started walking back to the door. When we had exited the room Soul spoke. "So you lost your partner too?" I didn't say a word for minute. "Yeah, I did." We were both silent as we walked the rest of the way back to the classroom.

We didn't speak to each other until lunch came. When I got my tray I realized I didn't have a place to sit. Just like those last two weeks at the other academy. I had been shunned for the rumor going around saying I hadn't even attempted to save Kain. I was about to go sit at an empty table when I spotted Soul waving me over to his table. He was sitting with the same people I had seen him with earlier at the front of the school. I walked over and slid in beside him where he gestured.

"So your Soul's new meister huh? I guess it doesn't matter who you are because you could never beat me!" The kid with blue hair was sitting across from me and he looked hyper. "Black Star that's no way to introduce yourself." The long black haired girl was sitting beside him and smiled apologetically at me. "Oh right, well, my name's Black Star!" He smiled in an idiotic way. The black haired girl introduced herself next. "It's nice to meet you. I'm Tsubaki." The black haired boy with three stripes in his hair spoke next. "I'm Death the Kid; it's a pleasure to meet you." He had really nice golden eyes.

"I'm Liz and this is my sister Patty." The long haired blonde girl introduced herself and her sister. "It's nice to meet you all." They all went back to whatever they were talking about before I came and I just ignored them. I didn't exactly have any part in their discussion.

"So Chloe, why did you transfer here?" I looked up to see Tsubaki looking at me with curiosity. Kid spoke next. "Yeah, I was wondering that also. We've never had a student transfer from another DWMA as far as I know." I didn't meet any of their eyes. "There were some rumors going around after my partner was killed. I was shunned by everyone so my parents sent me here." Even Black Star didn't have a comeback for that.


	3. Chapter 3

Soul's friends dragged me around with them for the rest of the day but they didn't make me participate in their classes. I think they just wanted me to feel welcome in their group.

When classes were over Soul and I hung back in the classroom. "You guys can go; we're supposed to stay back for some extra lessons." Black Star laughed. "Haha! You guys have extra lessons! The mighty Black Star never needs extra lessons!" Tsubaki smiled slightly. "Remember that we don't have any souls Black Star. So maybe we need to have extra lessons." They disappeared out the door and Dr. Stein closed the door behind them. "Do you two know why I wanted you to stay after?" I stayed quiet and Soul answered him. "To help us get used to having a different partner or something."

Stein smiled. "That's correct. And the way I want you to do that is to attack me." I looked at him with surprise. He was one of the professors! There was no way we could stand a chance in a fight against him.

He must have seen the look on my face because he said, "Don't worry I'm not going to attack you. I just want to see how well your souls can resonate. Right now they both look desperate for a partner." I glared at him. He was goading us to attack; he knew we would take the bait. "You ready to see how well we can fight together?" I glanced over at Soul. He looked as angry at what Stein had said as I felt. "Yeah, let's get this over with."

He transformed and spun in place. I grabbed the handle of the scythe and kept him spinning for a moment before taking a firm hold on the cool metal and placing it on my shoulder the blade was behind my head. "You have such a careless stance. That could get you killed if the enemy had an accomplice behind you." I nodded. "Yeah I know." I ran up and swung Soul at his head. He pushed himself back in his wheelie chair to avoid my attack. I kept up an endless attack of swings. "Chloe this won't work against him! I've fought him before-"

"Be quiet! I know what I'm doing. I didn't get 99 souls without picking up a few moves you know." He went silent and let me continue. Stein never said a word; he just continued to dodge my attacks by moving around the classroom in his chair. "You aren't getting anywhere, Chloe. Why don't you try something a bit more interesting?" I smiled slightly. "I was just trying to see how you moved. Now I know how you dodge attacks." His eyes grew wide in shock. "You were studying me?" My smile grew wider and I jumped on top the desk behind him.

Soul's blade was behind me at Stein's neck. I looked over my shoulder at him. "You trapped me while I was still trying to figure out what you could have learned from such a simple strategy. Soul, I apologize for what I'm about to do." He grabbed the hilt and a shock of his soul force swept through me. I yelped in pain but didn't release Soul. Instead I turned Soul upside down and used his like a balancing pole as I kicked Stein's arm away and landed a few feet away from him.

"You need to be careful, Chloe. He's one of the best meisters to graduate from the DWMA." I turned to look back at Stein. He was one of the best meisters? I could hardly believe that since it looked as if he didn't even have a partner. "You shouldn't be so confident in your attacks. Even if someone's trapped there's a way they can get out." I jumped on top of the closest desk and ran towards him. I raised Soul in as if I was going to swing straight down. He dodged exactly how I thought he would.

He moved to the left. At the last second I turned Soul so that the blade moved to the right and hit its mark. I jumped off the desk and summer salted over Stein, landing behind him. Stein turned to me and a red stain was forming on his right shoulder. "You fainted an attack and managed to cut me. I hadn't planned on you doing something like that. You seem like the straight forward attack."

I put Soul on my shoulder again. "I am a straight forward attacker but I also when I need to analyze my opponent's moves so I know how to defend. You are a deadly opponent who needs to be analyzed carefully before you make a move to attack." He took a cigarette out of his pocket and lit it with his lighter. "That's quite a unique strategy. I've never seen anyone fight like that." I said nothing.

"This lesson is over; you can go home now." I let go of Soul and he transformed back to his normal self. "Did we pass or what?" Stein regarded us with indifferent eyes. "Yes, you do. But Chloe, you should trust him more; you would do better in a fight if you did that." I swept out of the room before he could say anything else.

How could I trust someone I just met? There was no way I could trust Soul just because Lord Death had put us together as partners. It just couldn't happen. "This is not going to work how any of them want it to." I made my way outside to find Kid and Black Star fighting in front of the stairs. Tsubaki, Liz, Patty and Professor Sid were watching them. I walked up to where they were. "I'm not getting out that way am I?"

Tsubaki shook her head. "Not unless you want to get caught in the middle of it." I sighed. Looks like I was going to break up this fight. I stepped down the couple steps and walked straight forward. They were already rushing toward one another so I stopped in the middle of them. They didn't have enough time to move away as I put my hands out so I stopped them both with my hand over their heart. Their heartbeats were fast and rhythmic.

"Soul force." They were both sent flying in opposite directions. I walked down the stairs before they could recover.

This was certainly going to be a fun year. I had a professor who had already told me how to help my fighting skills and idiots who didn't want to do anything but fight as a group of friends.

OOC: Sorry if it's kind of sucky… I'm actually not very good at describing battle scenes as they look in my head…


	4. Chapter 4

About halfway home I noticed he was following me. I stopped with my back to hm and asked, "Is there a reason why you're following me…Soul?" I turned to look at him. He had his hands in his pockets and his expression was somewhat serious. "I want to talk." I laughed humorlessly. "There's nothing to talk about. If Stein put you up to this then it's a wasted effort. I have nothing I want to share with you." Even I could tell he wasn't going to give up. "Drop the act, Chloe. Stein told me what happened to your old partner, but I want to hear it from you."

I almost clenched my fists but refrained from doing so. "Why do you want me to repeat what he told you? I'm trying my hardest to get rid of that awful memory." He hadn't made a move to come any closer to me and still held his position. I got the feeling that he knew I needed my space and he was treating me like a scared animal. If he made a move too quickly or got too close I would bolt. It was probably true as to how I felt. "Sometimes you need to learn to face the past so you can move forward. I'll tell you what happened to my old partner if you tell me what happened to yours."

I stared at him with an indifferent expression. "Why do I want to know what happened to your old partner? You know about mine even if the details aren't all there. I don't need to know about yours." He rolled his eyes. "Is there somewhere else we can talk? I don't feel like standing around all night. I sighed; he wasn't going to let this go so I might as well just play along. "My apartment isn't very far; we can go there." I turned on my heel and started walking in the direction I had been before I noticed Soul. I didn't look to see if he was following me or not. It would be better if he wasn't.

I walked into my small apartment and threw open the door to my room so I could throw my bag onto my bed. When I turned around Soul was sitting on the couch. I sat in the recliner to the right of the couch and we were silent for a few minutes. "My old partner's name was Maka. She was the smartest kid in our whole class. We had been sent by Lord Death to kill a Kishin egg that was close to become a full on Kishin. We had gotten cocky when we'd thought we'd killed it. I had transformed and hadn't realized until it was too late that it was still alive. It got her and I managed to kill it without her. When Stein had shown up it was too late. Even he couldn't help her."

I was shocked by the sudden explanation. I hadn't expected him to tell his story first. He waited in silence. I didn't say anything for a long while and had to turn on the lamp next to me. "His name was Kain. He had been my best friend since childhood and we had always dreamed of joining the DWMA where we lived. We had sworn to each other that we would both get in and then be partners. That's exactly what we did.

"We collected souls to turn him into a death scythe and we were so close to that goal we could feel it in out bones." I looked past Soul and out the window, my eyes becoming glazed as the memory rushed to me, clear as day. "We had finally gotten 99 souls and had been scouting an area where a witch had been spotted multiple times. It was a wooded area with many trees; it gave us an advantage because we were best in areas with high perches. We waited silently for hours for her to pass her usual route. We had the element of surprise on our side and managed to deal her a good blow to the shoulder. She couldn't move her arm.

"Not once did we get over confident while fighting. We managed to only receive minimal damage while attacking and defending. She was a good match for us but it took her a while to figure out our attack pattern. By then we had dealt her so much damage it was amazing she could still send spells flying at us. We were hiding in the branches of a tree close to her and a spell hit me from behind. I fell from the tree and let go of his handle. He fell out of my reach and she was sending a beam of white light straight at me. I didn't have enough time to move out of the way and Kain threw himself in front of me.

I felt tears stinging the back of my eyes but I held them back. One still managed to escape down my cheek and I rubbed it away quickly. "All the sound seemed to evaporate. Even the witch was stunned by how he had gotten to me so fast. One word broke the silence. 'Run.' He exploded in a burst of ash. I was frozen for only half a second then I bolted. I wasn't going to let his sacrifice to save me go to waste." My hand seemed to act on its own and clasped the locket at my throat that hung from the chain Kain had given me. It had the ashes I had grabbed on reflex in it.

"What about the rumors? How did they start?" I shook my head as my throat grew thick and I couldn't speak. I kept the tears back like I had a million times before at night. I had never actually said the whole story out loud so this made it even harder to keep my emotions in control. Soul stayed quiet as I got myself under control again. I let go of the locket and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid to get close to another person in case such a thing happens again. It would tear me apart even worse than I already am. My friends would abandon me again and I would be alone again."

OOC: Read and Review please! I'm going to start asking for reviews for new chapters so get your game on. :)


	5. Chapter 5

That night Soul made dinner for the two of us and didn't ask me anymore questions. I could tell her knew exactly why I felt the way I did and why I didn't want to get to know him more than necessary, and he respected that. He didn't try to push my boundaries to get indirect answers from me. When he left, around ten, I made my way to the shower before crashing on my bed.

I woke early feeling better than I had in weeks. I checked my bag before I left to make sure I had a few books and notebooks with me then headed for the academy. I didn't encounter anyone other than the townsfolk on my way. When I finally ascended the staircase to the front door of the academy I was confronted with Black Star. He pointed at me and yelled, "You messed up our fight yesterday! How dare you make the mighty Black Star look like a fool!" I shoved his hand out of my face and went to pass by him but he grabbed my wrist and flipped me over. I landed hard on my back with him smirking above me.

The wind had been knocked out of me from the impact with the ground but I quickly recovered. I stood gracefully and brushed the dirt off my clothes. "You're such an immature child. I simply did what I had to in order for me to pass safely to the stairs. I don't want to fight you." He smiled largely like I had said something funny. "Maybe you don't want to fight but I do!" He came at me almost faster than I could react. His fist missed my face only by a couple inches. I jumped away from him and noticed that everyone had moved around us in a circle silently. Soul was watching from one of the front lines.

This wasn't going to be something I could easily get out of. I sighed and pulled off my bag throwing it to Soul. "Hold that for me; this shouldn't take long." He caught it and I realized Kid, Liz, Patty, and Tsubaki were watching alongside him. I scowled and dodged as Black Star came at me for another hit. He came at me again causing me to jump back and land on my hands. I spun with my wrists and went for a kick at his jaw. He caught my ankle and threw me up in the air like I was nothing more than a feather. I landed in a crouch a few feet away from him.

"Come on! If you're going to be Soul's partner you have to do better than that!" I kept my expression unreadable. "I have no reason to go all out here. You aren't that much of a threat to me." I stood up straight and looked at him dismissively. He came at me again with a different move. I knew from how he moved that I wouldn't be able to dodge this if I really tried. Right before he hit me Professor Stein appeared in front of me and caught Black Star's wrist. "Black Star, you know the rules about no fighting without a professor watching over it." Immediately Black Star moved a step away but the look on his face said that he wasn't ready to give up.

I spoke up before he could. "Black Star, if you have something wrong with the way I do things then just say it. There's no point in wasting your energy with a stupid fight." Even Professor Stein looked at me with surprise. Black Star put his hands on his hips and looked down to his right with a smirk on his face. "Please, I don't have a problem with you; I just want to make sure you're strong enough to be Soul's partner." I scowled and moved past both of them to where Soul was. I snatched my bag from him and the crowd of kids parted for me to walk into the school.

Soul caught up to me halfway to our first classroom. "Lord Death wants us in the Death Room. He wanted us as soon as you showed up but Black Star interrupted." I sighed and changed direction to where the Death Room was. "What does he want us for this time?" Soul followed beside me with his hands in his pockets. "No clue; Sid just told me to find you as soon you got here." I stayed silent as we made our way through the hallways.

We finally came face to face with Lord Death. "What's up, what's up? How are you two? Is everything going okay?" I said nothing and let Soul answer. "Everything's fine. What did you want us for?" I noticed a quiet red-head on the other side of the room and recognized him as Lord Death's personal death scythe. "I have a mission for you two. You don't have any collected souls correct?" Soul nodded. "So we have to go collect souls?" Lord Death nodded.

"You'll be going to Italy." Great; I've always wanted to go to Italy and now I had a mission there. Too bad we were going to collect souls instead of sightseeing. Kain would have been ecstatic. My hands twitched like they wanted to ball up into fists but I kept them open. No one seemed too noticed. "You'll be leaving immediately. Good luck, good luck!"


End file.
